


Footprints in the Snow

by LacePendragon



Category: RWBY
Genre: But Serious In Execution, Canon Compliant, Episode Related, Love Confessions, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Slightly Cracky in Concept, V6E1 Argus Limited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 12:43:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21136898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: The train is safe and divided. JNR has everything handled. With all that said and done, Dudley leaves the train to find Dee, wherever he got tossed, and to take him back to Mistral. And maybe, just maybe, tell him how he really feels.





	Footprints in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Listen. If nothing else, I am a pretty damn good at writing crack ships into existence that make people go "huh, I can see it." And it is a damn shame that Dee and Dudley don't have any fics I can find. So, now to write one.
> 
> This is a direct continuation of the JNR side of things in V6E1, with some divergence.
> 
> Listen, none of you stopped me. So, technically, this is your fault.

The train was divided, the kids and the weird old man were gone, and the three other kids, including the one that healed him, were with Dudley on the main train, still on the way to Argus. Dudley _so_ wasn’t getting paid for this job, but it didn’t matter. He was more concerned about Dee, and where he’d fallen, and how far he’d have to go to get back to him.

They’d been separated before, but never like this. Not thrown by angry Grimm attracted by whatever the fuck that kid had had on his hip. And what’d been up with his voice?

The world was getting weirder by the day, and Dudley was _tired._ He was a shitty huntsman, he knew that, and his own fear wasn’t entirely masked by this kid’s semblance.

And then it wasn’t at all, because the mask faded.

“There,” said the black-haired kid, as he climbed back into the train. He was pretty sure the dude was a dude, but he couldn’t be certain. Hunters from Beacon had always played with gender. A product of their late headmaster, he figured. “We’re far enough away that it should be fine.”

“And if we’re not?” asked Dudley.

“We do it again,” said the blond one, coming in behind the first. “We have Nora if we need firepower.” He gestured to the orange-haired girl that came in just after him. “She can take one or two by herself.”

The girl flexed. _Of course she did._ She was the kind of hunter that Dudley and Dee pretended to be. Tough, strong, untouchable, and an absolute _bro._ He was a little jealous she’d managed it before they had.

And that just made him think of Dee even more, and how worried he was about him.

“We should be fine all the way to Argus, but I’d like to walk the train again, make sure everyone is okay,” said the black haired one. He looked at Dudley. “What about you? You lost your partner back there. Are you all right?”

The three kids watched him and Dudley took a deep breath before he spoke.

“He’s not dead, the Grimm dropped him. But I don’t know why,” said Dudley. Maybe it was because the Grimm were being weird because of those kids. He didn’t know. He wasn’t paid enough to care.

“I’m not leaving him behind,” he continued. “You saw what happened. We aren’t getting paid anyway.” He grabbed his bag from the overhead and slung it over his shoulder. He was missing his weapon, but he had a knife in his bag, so he’d be fine. He was more worried about Dee. “Thanks for fixing my arm, and for everything. I’ll get out of your hair.”

“You’re going after the other guy?” asked the orange-haired girl.

Dudley gave a sharp nod and headed for a door. “Yeah, Dee. He’s my partner and I…” He grimaced, shaking his head. Thoughts that had plagued him for weeks surfaced in his head, bouncing around like ping pong balls in beer pong.

“You love him,” said the black haired one.

He flushed – not _blushed,_ he didn’t _blush_ – at the words and looked away, grimacing. He did not need a bunch of teenagers psychoanalysing something he’d shoved into the back of his head for months.

“He’s my friend,” said Dudley. “I owe it to him.”

“Go get ‘im, lover boy,” teased the girl. “We’ll finish our job.”

He didn’t argue. He’d lose any fight he started with these kids, anyway, what with the healer and the _tank_. Instead, he just nodded, pulled open a door, and leapt.

His semblance, a bracing kind that allowed him to nullify friction, kicked in as he landed, letting him slide down the slope on his feet and come to a stop not far from the track.

He took a breath, turned back the direction they’d come, and started walking.

_I’m coming for you Dee._

* * *

In the end, in took two hours to walk back to where Dee had fallen. He passed broken track along the way, which meant those other kids had lost their end of the train – he hoped they were okay – and snuck around some leftover manticores.

Two hours in the snow, under the clouds, worrying about Dee, and when he finally found him, he was shivering underneath a tree, his aura flickering against his skin.

“Dee!” Dudley broke into a run when he saw Dee. He slid to a stop in front of him and got to his knees, ripping open his bag to pull out his extra cloak to throw it around Dee’s shoulders. “Are you okay?”

Dee smiled at him, cheeks ruddy and nose running. He sniffled. “Pretty sure I broke my ankle when I fell, but yeah, I’m okay.” He stared toward the tracks. “They didn’t touch me, man, they just followed the train. It was freaky. Like they barely knew I was there.”

“Yeah, well, let’s try not to think about it,” muttered Dudley. Definitely not paid enough to deal with these kids. “Come on, I’ll carry you back to Mistral.”

Dee groaned as Dudley helped him to his feet and shifted him so Dudley could piggyback him. “We’re not getting paid, are we?” he asked.

Dudley laughed. “What do you think, bozzo?” he asked.

Dee sighed and shifted, hooking his legs over Dudley’s arms and his own arms around Dudley’s shoulders. Piggybacks were their main method of getting around when one of them was injured, and it was usually Dee because of his stupid close quarters weapon and “run at Grimm screaming” fighting style.

Fuck, it was a miracle they weren’t dead.

A miracle they probably wouldn’t get again.

They walked in silence for a bit before Dee spoke.

“Thanks for coming back for me,” Dee mumbled against his shoulder. Dudley fought the urge to shrug. He couldn’t, without dislodging Dee a bit, but the urge was there, all the same. Instead, he settled for biting the inside of his cheek and humming a bit.

“Always,” said Dudley, even though it was way too emotional for how they usually talked. But hell, Dee had almost died, he was allowed to be a little cheesy. Maybe Dee was too concussed to notice. He hoped so, anyway. “We’re partners, you dunce.”

Dee laughed, the huffing breaths tight to Dudley’s neck. “You’re the dunce.”

“Yeah,” agreed Dudley. “Yeah, I am.”

“What’s up with you, man? You okay?” asked Dee. His arms tightened against Dudley and Dudley bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying anything stupid.

But he did it anyway.

“You freaked me out, man. I thought you were dead.” He couldn’t keep the tremor from his voice. The world was going to shit and he just wanted to go back to _normal._ Hunting used to be easy in Mistral. Just a way to make some money while you slacked off. There were enough good huntsman around that he never worried about what he and Dee did.

But now, their fuckery had almost gotten a lot of people hurt.

He never wanted that shit to happen again. He never wanted to risk him and Dee like that again. And if he wasn’t willing to risk himself, he had no business fighting Grimm. That was how people died.

“Aw, dude, that’s so _sweet_,” cooed Dee. “You were _worried_.”

Dudley rolled his eyes. “I’ll fucking drop you, man. Don’t think I won’t.”

“No, you won’t,” said Dee, resting his cheek on Dudley’s shoulder.

Dudley sighed. “No, I won’t,” he agreed.

Silence again, only this time because they both were thinking.

“Probably another hour to Mistral,” said Dudley. “At least.”

“Think you can carry me that long?” asked Dee. His words brushed Dudley’s ear and Dudley felt his cheeks heat. Yeah, the kids were right. He had it _bad._

“Obviously,” muttered Dudley. “I’m the one of us who actually works out, dumbass.”

Dee snorted, ruffling Dudley’s hair. “My hero,” he drawled.

“You bet your ass I am,” replied Dudley, puffing out his chest a bit.

They both laughed, the noise swallowed in the vastness of the Mistral wilderness.

Dudley thought as he walked. He thought about being a huntsman and how he hated it. He thought about how scared he’d been on the train. He thought about how it had almost broken him to lose Dee. And he thought about the feelings he had that he couldn’t get rid of, no matter how hard he tried.

Dee knew he was gay. That’d been something Dudley had told him way back in Haven, when they were partners in their first year. It’d been something Dudley hadn’t wanted to hide from his new best friend, and Dee had taken it in stride, offering to be a wingman for him so that he could find a boyfriend or a hook-up.

It’d never bothered their relationship, but would it fuck them up if Dee knew Dudley was in love with _him?_

Maybe. Maybe not. But maybe the world was ending. And maybe Dudley wanted to stop fighting and just be a regular person who could take on the Grimm if they came to his home.

Maybe he was tired of pretending he wanted to be a hero.

“Dee?” He broke the silence after probably half an hour of it.

Dudley hesitated a few seconds, waiting to ensure Dee didn’t interrupt him. “I’ve been thinking that we should get out of the huntsmen business. I mean, we only went onto the train to shake people down and you saw how _that_ went.” He sucked in a sharp breath and adjusted his hands on Dee’s thighs, still trudging through the snow. “You know, when we started at Haven, you said if you weren’t a huntsman you’d wanna be a baker. Well, my parents told me if I stopped hunting, they’d help me settle down. So, we could use that money to open a bakery, maybe with an apartment on top.”

He drew all his courage for the next part. “I almost lost you today, and that scared me, man. You’re everything to me. We’ve known each other forever and…” He sighed. “I think I’m in love you with, dude. And it’s cool if you don’t feel the same way, but I wanted you to know. We could do the domestic thing, you know? Grow old together.” He smiled, dodging a fallen log. “Yeah?”

Silence. Dudley frowned.

“Dee?”

Soft snoring. Dudley turned his head and found Dee passed out, snoring lightly against his shoulder.

Dudley sighed, smiling. “Sleep well, Dee, we’ll talk when we get back to Mistral.” He kept walking, his chin high and his steps sure. They’d get back to Mistral, and when they did, they’d figure everything else out.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated! Seriously. This fic is fucking weird.


End file.
